Why did Lyle and Erik Menendez kill their parents? Motive explained 

In 1989, the premeditated murders of José and Kitty Menendez by the sons, Lyle and Erik Menendez, shocked the entire nation and the case was widely highlighted as the most 'talked-about' criminal trials of the 1990s. These heinous crimes by the seemingly promising young men, made the case go down in infamy not just for its gruesome details but also for the dramatic courtroom battles that followed.

In the case of the Menendez brothers, one question defined the trial: Why did Lyle and Erik Menendez kill their parents? According to the defense counsel for the brothers, they killed out of desperation to put an end to the frequent sexual and physical abuse by their father, José Menendez.

However, the narrative that the murders were an act of self-preservation would eventually turn on them to reveal deeper and more troubling truths.

Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story explores this case. It features Nicholas Chavez as Lyle Menendez and Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez. José and Kitty Menendez are played by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny respectively. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was released on Netflix on September 19, 2024.

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A history of abuse

Lyle and Erik Menendez's attorneys gave a disturbing account of the brothers' upbringing. The account revealed several years of severe physical and s*xual abuse caused by their father, José Menendez. The brothers explained that such abuse began when they were very young.

Lyle claimed that in his childhood, José was harsh and had physically punished him. Erik's account was even graver with allegations of s*xual abuse running through his early adolescence. The defense portrayed José Menendez as a tyrannical and abusive figure who consistently tortured his sons.

According to their account, their mother, Kitty Menendez, knew of the abuse and was complicit. This characterization of the Menendez family as dysfunctional and abusive was the central theme of the defense argument regarding the motive for murder, which was painted as desperation to escape abuse to protect themselves.

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A financial motive

Where the defense depicted the Menendez brothers as victims of abuse, the prosecution argued against motives based on fear. The argument was that Lyle and Erik killed their parents to speed up the inheritance process. Evidence proved that after killing the parents, the brothers spent all the riches on booming extravagance buying pricey cars and real estate.

The prosecution further argued that the brothers committed the murders for financial gain. They argued that the financial indolence of the Menendez brothers and their lavish lifestyle showed that the killing of the parents was premeditated.

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Lyle and Erik Menendez's confession

The turning point in the case was brought by psychologist Jerome Oziel, who had counseled the Menendez brothers. He testified there that Lyle and Erik had told him about the murders they had committed in therapy sessions. The confession came to the knowledge of the police through Oziel's mistress Judalon Smyth, who overheard the details.

This was followed by the brothers' arrest. The confessions, combined with the attempts the brothers made to manipulate their psychological profiles and testimonies, complicated the story and influenced the public perception of their motives.

Lyle and Erik Menendez are currently serving a life sentence behind bars despite repeated appeals to reconsider their sentence. In 2023, the brothers' attorneys filed another petition with the court and any significant development is yet to be reported.

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The motives behind the killing of parents by Lyle and Erik Menendez are intricately interlinked with claims of abuse and their actions after the murders. While the defense is doing its best to claim that maybe Lyle and Erik Menendez committed this crime in desperation to escape a lifetime of abuse, the prosecution said that this was all to do with financial gain.